2013 is shaping up to be a busy year for Hotel Diablo’s Alex Grossi. Already one of the hardest-working guitarists around, Grossi also performs with Quiet Riot (which celebrates the 30th anniversary of its monster album “Metal Health” this year). In addition, Grossi mentors other up and coming bands and is also involved in a clothing line with Forgotten Saints.

Grossi first met vocalist Rick Stitch back in 2009 when both were members of Steven Adler’s band, “Adler’s Appetite”. After parting ways with Adler, the duo (along with bassist Mike Duda and drummer Mike Dupke) began writing songs together and formed Hotel Diablo.

It wasn’t long before friend, producer and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke  took notice and asked the guys to come down to his studio and record. It was also no coincidence that the first song they recorded was “Set It Off,” a track that would instantly catapult an entire project.

Pleased with the result, the band ended up doing a total of nine tracks with Clarke at his studio and two additional ones with LA underground producer Matt Starr. The result? Hotel Diablo’s debut album, “The Return to Psycho, California”, an 11-song arsenal of killer riffs and grooves.

Grossi explains the story behind one of the album’s strongest tracks, ‘Psycho, California’. “When we all moved out here to LA from different parts of the world, we were all fresh-faced, young kids. But we quickly discovered how this town can just eat you up and spit you out. This place (LA) has a lot of mythology to it, and that’s really what the song is about.”

When it came time to do a video for the song, the band already had a vision for how they wanted it to be. They joined forces with Emmy-winning director Fabio Jafet (Pitbull, KISS, Enrique Iglesias, Children of Bodom), who was instrumental in helping to capture the true essence of the song. It was an organic process that quickly took on a life of its own.

Hotel Diablo recently completed a show at the House of Blues in LA, officially unveiling the new video and following it up with a live performance where they were joined onstage by Clarke himself. Bassist Chris Wyse (The Cult/Owl) also joined the band for the song “Bury You”, which Grossi revealed will be the next video released from the album and will once again reunite them with Jafet.

When asked about the future and working on the next Hotel Diablo video, Grossi is quick to point out his admiration for the director. “Fabio is world-class and the fact that he wanted to work with us was humbling.

Our goal now is to keep the creative momentum going.”

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